dougm213

Reaching 50K miles on my '14 GS and thus the expiration of the bumper to bumper warranty.

er34

If you're expecting fireworks out of the engine bay, don't hold your breath. It's not a BMW.

bb700092

Thats funny

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Not sure if the dark side is still BMW, but if its the new 5, congrats. I could never afford one, but got to drive one pretty extensively when the salesman at BMW tried to convince me to lease a new 2017 540i instead of buying a used 535 and it was great. Think it looks a lot better than the last generation too, maybe a bit too busy for some though.

To be honest, in this segment with the GS, 5, E-class, CTS, A6, S90, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others, I don't think there is really a bad car among them. Drove a 2016 3.6 CTS and was really a fan.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

I have 75k miles on my 450h. The only maintenance was regular oil change, air filters, tire rotation, nothing else.

The brake fluid is still clean unnecessary to change, honestly makes no sense to ever change it unless it's really dirty. I plan on drain/fill rear diff and change spark plus at the recommended interval. I plan on driving this car for the next 10 years, 250k is the goal. I had a 1998 Honda Accord that ran solid to 232k before transmission started slipping, never flushed brake fluid.

er34

Going off topic here, but you can't accurately judge the life of brake fluid just from color because the color just represents contaminants in the system. The real enemy to brake fluid(and braking system in general) is moisture, and moisture doesn't really change the color of brake fluid at all...

RA051823

You're worried about being out of warranty with a Lexus? LOL! Maybe if it was German then there would be cause for concern.
We're shooting for 300k miles out of my wife's GS350.

bclexus

300,000 miles is a lot of miles...and most likely a lot of years! There comes a point with a car's age and mileage where things just start failing and the car becomes not only far less dependable to get from Point A to Point B, but also the car starts nickle-n-dimeing the owner more than most people care to deal with, or continue to throw money at.

Most people get tired of dealing with such things as deteriorated rubber weather seals or engine hoses or suspension bushings, failed alternator or starter, worn out struts, a malfunctioning VVTi system, a broken rear window shade motor, or squeaks and rattles, or worn and scratched seats and interior, or scraped, dinged, scratched and faded clearcoat finish ... and the list goes on and on and on. Plus, most people nowadays can't stand to have old outdated technology. Lastly, most people get tired of looking at, and driving, the same ol' car after having it for some period of time - 2, 3, 5, 10 years.

I think the maximum sweet spot to get rid of a vehicle that has been a joy to own is probably just under 100k miles, which for most people is around 5-8 years.

Mike552

My sc400 had over 200000 miles when i sold it. I am confident it is still purring around somewhere as it was in fine shape when i gave her up a couple of years ago!

bclexus

Nobody doubts a car can't be kept going for practically any mileage, or time. The issue becomes how dependable it remains and how much money is spent to repair and replace all the things that both age and mileage always eventually wears out.

There is one thing that is certain - that old car may still be purring around somewhere, but it doesn't have the technology that even a cheap Chevy has...

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

I think a 100k cap on all cars is kind of conservative. While I doubt theres really such a thing as a "bad car" anymore, some cars/makes age better than others, not just in terms of reliability, but tech, wear, and look as well. As an all around package, Lexus seems to be one of the best as I would have no hesitation buying a 5-10 year old Lexus in good shape with 100k, and still have most, if not more features, performance, and reliability, than others cars on the road today, let alone at the price point. I can't say the same for most other makes, as much as I would like too.

dougm213

My previous 3 cars have been Toyotas, 2000 GS 300 had from '05 until '13 200K, Bought new both a '94 Camry 250K when retired and a '94 Celica 150K when given to nephew and still running. As each got over 100K or 10 years, seals, suspension or various motors went. All very reliable.

Mike552

Yeah but, i’d rather drive a used, well kept lexus with a 1uz under the hood instead of a cheap azz cartboard box chevy econobox. If its a choice between these two, then you can keep your “technology”

bclexus

The reference to the 'cheap Chevy' was just to make the point that a 20+ year-old car (like your SC400) is a technology dinosaur when compared to [even] a cheap Chevy. There comes a time when keeping an old car up-n-going just becomes too costly and troublesome. Trading that old car for a much newer (used) car is almost always a much better choice.

Personally I don't see anything special about the 4.0L 1UZ engine other than it was built with 6-bolt mains, which made it durable to last a long time. The 244 cubic inch high-compression V8 engine only produced 250 hp to 290 hp, depending on the model year, and pushed the SC400 from 0 to 60 mph in just under 7 seconds. It had a terrible exhaust system and the transmission was pathetic in transferring what power it had to the rear wheels. Twenty years ago, back in 1997, the engine was finally upgraded with VVT-i, which bumped the horsepower all the way up to 290 hp. This was old mechanical technology as well as old electronic technology, which should be allowed to die...

drgrant

LOL, dumping a Lexus at under 100K? Basically you're getting rid of a car that's just broken in so someone else can drive it. With proper care and avoidance of accidents, these cars will be good for 200-300K no problem. 200K is a minimum benchmark for me for getting rid of a car, and even at that, if it was taken care of properly that should literally only be like the first 2/3rds of its life.

This was a primary reason I bought a GS350 instead of this Audi S5 with the same model year that I was looking at. The Audi was a much faster car, etc.... had nicer things in certain regards.... however I know when the chips are down, getting the GS to 100K is going to be, in relative terms, no big deal.... getting an Audi that goes past 100K without rupturing ones bank account? I might as well buy powerball tickets, my odds would probably be better than that happening.

The entire killer app of these cars is that you can get 200+K or a decade or more of service out of them if you want, and even with routine maintenance, the total cost of operation isn't really very high. Hell I am trying to get my dad to get a new LS and he won't let go of his ES330 from 2003? or whenever it was made. (I want him to sell me his old ES so I can use it as a winter bang-around car or for my business.... ). It has some minor cosmetic issues but the car still drives really, really well. (and that's why he won't get rid of it, LOL!) Thats why I laugh at people that lease a Lexus, unless its for some business write off purpose.... like "oh great, so you're leasing that car and being forced not to drive it with that silly 10K mileage limit, so the next guy is going to get that car at the best price... lol" or someone has more cash than brains, literally doesn't drive anywhere, and gets bored every 3 years or so... I guess I can understand that. Then again I'm biased because I would destroy even a 15K lease mileage limit in about 5-6 months maybe, even if 3 of those months are over the summer when the work volume goes down.

When I got my GS I traded in a 2010 Camry LE V6 that had 260,000 miles on it. Honestly I would have kept that car in that role if the math had worked out at the time, but I had to do a lot of scrambling to make the numbers work for my GS, so that trade in, however little it was worth, ended up being part of the equation. If I had kept that car I had no doubt that I could have gotten it to 300K no problem. It was still in pretty damned good shape.

-Mike